Starbucks Akeelah Entertainment

My Sister's a Barista : How They Made Starbucks a Home Away from Home (Great Brand Stories series)
John Simmons

What? Starbucks has something to do with the new movie Akeelah and the Bee? I had no idea.

Akeelah promo: Akeelah and the Bee is the inspirational story, co-presented by Lionsgate Films, 2929 Entertainment and Starbucks Entertainment, of a precocious eleven-year-old girl (Keke Palmer) with a gift for spelling. Despite objections from her mother (Angela Bassett), Akeelah enters various spelling contests, for which she is tutored by the forthright Dr. Larabee (Laurence Fishburne) and the proud residents of her neighborhood.

I was wondering what on earth “Starbucks Entertainment” was, but then I got to thinking, when you group certain things in certain ways, Starbucks is all about the experience... about a certain coffee shop universality. Step in to a Starbucks in Seattle or Spokane or Manhattan and order a Venti No-Whip One Pump Two Percent Mocha Mocha and they tend to know what you're talking about, and your environment is essentially the same. It's almost as if they trademarked “cafe” and are working their brand until it absolutely grinds to an espresso halt.

Curious George Goes to a Movie (Curious George)
H. A. Rey

So marching onward, to expand that “brand” they would naturally continue the idea of “experience,” though I wonder how they would or will incorporate this into their coffee/cafe experience (beyond the omnipresent Akeelah cup-jacket adverts)... that's something I think they still have to work out. Though maybe it will mean Starbucks movie houses, where a person could sit at a table and watch a movie and sip espresso and eat scones (and cupcakes... oh, the cupcakes are actually quite beyond what you would think possible from a cupcake) and watch a movie. Starbucks movie houses. Okay, people, get a move on.

The Matrix
Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski

Back to my original story... I can't wait for the part of the movie where Laurence Fishburne sits across from Akeelah with a pill in each hand and an Alice quote ready to send her down the rabbit hole. That's totally my favorite scene.